I have always thought that my 4.2L EFI (petrol) GQ Nissan Patrol was thirsty but after looking at some of the stated figures for modern Cruisers for example, I am having second thoughts.  Seems like the Patrol is not too bad when towing.  Not too good comparatively, elsewhere though.

eg. look at the 'Techies' Corner -> Torque converter lock up kits' thread.

In the early days I was meticulous in recording my consumption and regularly got 19.2L/100K overall, with mixed towing & non Towing trips, of several thousand km.

I use

-17l/100k non towing around town

-15L/100k non towing cruising the highway (the only time I use overdrive/5th gear) 

-22L/100 K towing my 2.4T van at around 90km/hr (usually 85 to 90km/hr) This will vary considerably depending on the terrain, wind, speed & road surface. g. On a recent lightly loaded stroll down the highway from Brissy to Tallebudgera on the Gold Coast at around 80-85km/hr my usage fell by >20% .

If I seem to be using more fuel than expected I look for factors that might be contributing.

Of course the Patrol is very old school with none of the modern fuel consumption computers etc.   As a real time indicator I just look at how many km I am covering for each 1/4 tank of fuel used.  (70 /120 /100+/ not sure of last 1/4 as I never get that low but expect 100+0)    Other influencers on 'excess consumption' could include 'did I fill right up at last servo', is the patrol a bit down by the ass affecting the fuel gauge reading, did I have to use E10, do I have kayaks on top of the Patrol.

I have noticed that my overall consumption has worsened by about 1L/100K over the years.  Perhaps at 280,000 km it is due for a good tune up.  But then fuel consumption is not a real issue for me, it is what it is.  My interest is only that I will have enough & not run out between stops & of course it is an indicator of possible mechanical problems.

I am currently getting 450km to 15 litres of petrol, at 90km phr, if I drop down to 80kmphr, I can get 545km, that is loaded not towing, that's why I will never go back to a car or 4wd, yeah I may get cold and or wet, but it is my hip pocket that is not feeling the pain anymore, and no I will never be buying an electric bike or car at the current rate

Hi all; We did our trip from Tassie to the mainland this year and were gone for 10 weeks. Just under 6000Kms. Averaged 16 Ltrs/ 100 Kms. 1995 Pajero diesel and pulling a 2012 Jayco Discovery pop top ( 17.55.3 ) and thought that was pritty good seeing that my engine is old school !! and no electronics or partical filter to worry about!! Did a bigger trip in 2013 with our then new caravan ( madden trip with the caravan ) from Mildura to Darwin and were gone 6 weeks. Fuel consumption then was around the same. The Pajero mainly sits on around 95 Kph / 5th gear. 

-- Edited by valiant81 on Thursday 6th of July 2023 03:42:12 PM

deverall11 wrote:

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2013 LC200 diesel V8 with an ARB bull bar. I have a spread sheet to back this up.
Fuel consumption not towing 10/100 - 11.8/100.
Towing, depending on wind and outside temp 12/100- 16/100.

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 You'd have to have been towing a box trailer as those figures show economy of  over 8.3km/litre. Hopefully, other  LC200 owners may comment as this looks, shall we say, "interesting". (Diplomacy!) Cheers

yobarr wrote:

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.....

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 You'd have to have been towing a box trailer as those figures show economy of  over 8.3km/litre. Hopefully, other  LC200 owners may comment as this looks, shall we say, "interesting". (Diplomacy!) Cheers

-- Edited by yobarr on Friday 7th of July 2023 11:05:08 AM

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 Not here to show off or get into 'mine is better then yours' blah blah blah. 

As I said, I have a spreadsheet that supports those figures. Further more, when LCOOL was accessible, some reported

figures as low as 9/100. Theses were achieved in cool weather and no bull barn no towing. ARB bull bar adds about 1 - 2

litres/100.

deverall11 wrote:

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yobarr wrote:

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.....

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 You'd have to have been towing a box trailer as those figures show economy of  over 8.3km/litre. Hopefully, other  LC200 owners may comment as this looks, shall we say, "interesting". (Diplomacy!) Cheers

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 Not here to show off or get into 'mine is better then yours' blah blah blah. 

As I said, I have a spreadsheet that supports those figures. Further more, when LCOOL was accessible, some reported

figures as low as 9/100. Theses were achieved in cool weather and no bull barn no towing. ARB bull bar adds about 1 - 2

litres/100.

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 Whilst I have no doubt that you can produce spread sheets, that means nothing than that you can produce spread sheets to support your assertions. 
How do they show which car was involved? 
How do they show what was being towed?

Anyway, enough of that. Well done on producing your figures.
IF they are selectively "doctored" you are fooling no one but yourself. Cheers

I just "fill the tanks" before they empty completely and then concentrate on enjoying retirement while I burn the next 170 or so litres  -  (I have seen people spend many thousands of Dollars on vehicles to save a few hundred Dollars in "fuel economy" for their trip -  often with a down trade in vehicle durability/service life  - might make them feel good about their fuel economy but misses the point bigtime in true economy terms.)  

If one is too lazy to do tank to tank data.

Jot down odometer kms at start & end of trip. Subtract start from end.

Add up all fuel purchases litres from receipts.

Divide total km by total litres. 

If one has lost all receipts, have a bit of an educated guess at average $/L from bank statements if capable of preschool maths.

If doing a spreadsheet & your car gives average trip speed data you can very simply calculate how many hours you have actually been driving over the holiday. 

Reset trip meter every tank to minimise rounding errors. Jot down trip data on back of receipt.

We don't tow, have a medium sized car, typically drive at 95kph. Includes some corrugated roads & some tracks. About 11.3L/100km.

Some basic situations per 100km for our car.

Tailwind 8L

Headwind 12.5L 

Dirt roads 14L

City 17L (28kph average in Sydney)

Poor dirt roads 20L

KJB wrote:

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I just "fill the tanks" before they empty completely and then concentrate on enjoying retirement while I burn the next 170 or so litres  -  (I have seen people spend many thousands of Dollars on vehicles to save a few hundred Dollars in "fuel economy" for their trip -  often with a down trade in vehicle durability/service life  - might make them feel good about their fuel economy but misses the point bigtime in true economy terms.)  

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 Keeping tab on fuel consumption is not so much about having an obsession on how economical the vehicle is but

more about trends. If the number vary considerably this may indicate a problem.

Having spent many years in the corporate world, one thing the bean counters taught me was the dark art

of measuring trends.

Yobarr, trust me I have better things to do with my time then 'doctor' spreadsheets. Some people keep a logbook,

I am fortunate enough to be able to use spreadsheets.  

well i believe him, my brother inlaw has an 07' 100series, and gets similar figures towing and not towing. He regrets selling the V8 petrol version though.

deverall11 wrote:

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2013 LC200 diesel V8 with an ARB bull bar. I have a spread sheet to back this up.
Fuel consumption not towing 10/100 - 11.8/100.
Towing, depending on wind and outside temp 12/100 - 16/100.

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What exactly were you towing, are we talking camper or pop top or full size van.

I can understand Yobarrs comment, so how about a bit more info

Basher

-- Edited by Basher on Saturday 8th of July 2023 08:48:58 PM

I'd be spewing if I got out to 16/100 towing my coromal lifestyle 663 semi off road with my twin turbo Ranger, figures don't seem that unrealistic to me.

We have a stock standard WK4 2014 Grand Cherokee with a 3.0L eco diesel, only mods are ECB bar, tow bar, WDH and trailer brakes. So far ~ 170,000K's & breakdown costs so far ~ $8 for a plastic window washer jet.

Apart from tyres and fuel and services no issues at all (we wont talk about a misfuel mishap - noticed before I finished fuelling.). We have towed our Bluesky Monterey ~2.5T dual axle only ~ 20,000k. From Adelaide to Cooktown x2 etc. Our worst case consumption was briefly with a big head wind at 100kmh and it was 17.1 L/100. Typically day in day out towing at 90 - 100Kmh anywhere from 13.7 - 16.6 depending on terrain and wind.

In Adelaide from 9.5 - 10.6 around the city. When our caravan was being built in Craigieburn we travelled from Adelaide and pulling into Melbourne was showing 7.9L/100 for the trip. On the way out ( no caravan yet) we filled at Diggers Rest and pulled into Adelaide with nearly 1/4 tank and a week and a half of light use later finally refuelled. I am 68 and in my life and many Melbourne trips I had never made the distance previously without refueling at least once. Mind you a refuel from empty costs about 3 times the cost of my first car :( lol

I do have a bit of a heavy right foot and know it costs me but cant/wont change now. The downside of the Jeep is service centres are getting rarer and if I broke down with anything serious I have no illusions about being stranded for days while parts are found and shipped to me. Sadly maybe but I do love my Jeep and will miss it one day!

PSfrom KJB: "I just "fill the tanks" before they empty completely and then concentrate on enjoying retirement while I burn the next 170 or so litres" 

I can relate to that !

MY last weeks return trip to Brissy.

Mon-Tue rain from very light to annoying, negioating accident zone crawling at snails pace for 5km near Waverley Creek Rest Area, from there to Yaamba constant conga lines of traffic varied speeds from 75-110kph.

1145km from 104.9l  for 9.16l/100km not towing.

Return leg Thurs-Fri Traffic ok Thursday but Friday after Rocky again lots of caravan induced conga lines to contend with variable speeds 80-110kph.

1181km from 101.9l for 8.63l/100km.

From Rocky to Proserpine I had my Torque App conneted to the ECU via the OBDII port, there is a big difference between what the ECU reports, 6.3l/100km to the actual 8.63l/100km

I would suggest if you are using the on board computer that tell your consumption, it may be telling porky pies.

"I would suggest if you are using the on board computer that tell your consumption, it may be telling porky pies."

I can concede this up to a point so will check the accuracy of the vehicle computer readouts versus odometer/fuel usage at the end of the trip.

I am an electronics engineer, perhaps I have unwarranted faith in the computers ability to compute an average to at least a similar accuracy value to my pen and paper calculations, it will be interesting to check the result.

The main difference/issue as I see may lie between an instantaneous returned value, versus a short term returned value versus a longer term average with regard to interpreting results. The OBDII output data uses the same data source as the onboard computer would use ?

Comparing accuracy between vehicle computers also sounds like another can of worms and if you will excuse the pun YMMV.

-- Edited by RustyJeep on Sunday 9th of July 2023 04:52:29 PM

Whitsundays to Rockhampton  a bit windy most of the trip 18.25 l/100k

  Rockhampton to Gympie windy early calm later on 15.96 l/100k

RustyJeep wrote:

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"I would suggest if you are using the on board computer that tell your consumption, it may be telling porky pies."

I can concede this up to a point so will check the accuracy of the vehicle computer readouts versus odometer/fuel usage at the end of the trip.

I am an electronics engineer, perhaps I have unwarranted faith in the computers ability to compute an average to at least a similar accuracy value to my pen and paper calculations, it will be interesting to check the result.

The main difference/issue as I see may lie between an instantaneous returned value, versus a short term returned value versus a longer term average with regard to interpreting results. The OBDII output data uses the same data source as the onboard computer would use ?

Comparing accuracy between vehicle computers also sounds like another can of worms and if you will excuse the pun YMMV.

-- Edited by RustyJeep on Sunday 9th of July 2023 04:52:29 PM

-- Edited by RustyJeep on Sunday 9th of July 2023 05:57:36 PM

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 I am an ex-software engineer so computers were my lifeline in terms of income. Fully comprehend the inner workings, however

it comes back to basics GIGO - Garbage In Garbage Out. beyond that a computer, especially the the basic device in a vehicle, can

only give you what it was programmed to do. What I mean by that is when a vehicle goes in 'Limp Mode' and the whole dash lights

up, it does not mean all those functions highlighted by a light have failed. It basically means there is a fault of sort and ECU does

not have the logic to identify it properly. Likewise with fuel consumption, too many variables to give you accurate figures. At best

it may be able to replicate from tank to tank but that's a long shot. If your looking to accurately measure your fuel consumption there is only one

way to do it and that is by filling your tank exactly each time, get rid of air pockets, and record the mileage. If you are that way

inclined you could go about comparing that figure with what the on-board computer gives you and see the trend if any. This should

put you in a position whereby you can identify the discrepancy assuming the on-board computer can replicate with a certain level

of accuracy.   

jegog wrote:

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I give very little thought to the fuel consumption. It is what it is and once the vehicle is purchased there are few ways to make minimal difference.
What stresses me is the variance in fuel prices, like 30 cents per litre. And the inland prices were the cheap prices whilst the Bruce Highway prices were the highest.
Life was simpler when the fuel price was the same everywhere.

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 Whilst this should not be an obsession, keeping an eye on fuel consumption or more to the point a sudden variation

could be the early warning that a bigger issue is looming.

So, I posted my consumption figures.

All L/100km
Cruise 100kph 11.8-12.5
Worst eg headwind and Hills
14.5
Not towing 5.8-6.3 hwy
Not towing 7.0 town

Notice when not towing (and for those not on the road full time that could be 95% of the use of their 4x4) . 5.8-6.3 L/100km is a figure I get everytime I leave to to visit a coastal city like Warrnambool.  For the sakes of Possum thats beween 44 and 51mpg. From a 1.7 ton car with 8 speed auto, the Kia Sportage.

So why isnt some owners seeking out more economical vehicles and smaller caravans?  if cost is the issue?

Eaglemax wrote:

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Not towing 7.0 town

 

Notice when not towing (and for those not on the road full time that could be 95% of the use of their 4x4) . 5.8-6.3 L/100km is a figure I get everytime I leave to to visit a coastal city like Warrnambool.  For the sakes of Possum thats beween 44 and 51mpg. From a 1.7 ton car with 8 speed auto, the Kia Sportage

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Amazing figures.

All I can from my 1.8 tonne Land Rover with Ford 2.0L Ecoboost petrol engine is 17L/100km at average speed at 28kph.

If Sydney traffic is really tedious looking at 20L/100km, has been up to 22L/100km when traffic is really slow, tank to tank calculations.

Always not pushing the car pointlessly.

2017 VX LC200, 11 to 12 litres /100km on hwy just driving normally, can get it down to 10 if I concentrate on smoothness. Alloy bull bar, MSA mirrors, no other external accessories.
Towing 2800kg dual axle full size van 20 foot and 3 metres tall I get around 18.5 l/100km. Best is 16.6 driving Ararat to Melbourne.
Constant hills and/or winding on/off the gas roads around 19.5 towing.

-- Edited by vince56 on Friday 18th of August 2023 04:46:19 PM

In the last 12 months we have done 2 extended trips 1) 10,000kms around Qld and 2)15.000kms down the west coast and back. I keep a spreadsheet of all of our costs including fuel prices and consumption and I can tell you that we averaged 16.5lts/100kms with a Jeep and a 3.1T van. I dont separate the figures into towing or not towing, from headwinds, tail winds, road conditions, speed, driving style, traffic etc etc. I already know what numbers I can expect to see in any of those conditions from past experience and by watching the tacho.  I'm really only interested in how much we spend on things like fuel for the trip. Why - because it helps when planning and budgeting for the next one. There are too many variables to stress out about how much fuel we were using at any partcular point in time especially as I knew  some days it would be higher and on others lower. When towing our fuel consumption ranged between 21ltr/100 and 14ltrs/100 depending on conditions (especially into never ending headwinds on the west coast), with that sort of range and the No.of other variables its difficult to draw any meaningful comparisons from those numbers.

BB